Puerto Rico part II

[Trópico]

I regret not being able to post pics as frequently as most of you, but I always wanted to share and here they are

R. borinquena crownshaft... sorry no Red...

Plumeria and Tropical Almond, overlooking the tranquility of the San Juan bay, from atop of spanish walls

[Trópico]

Wait there's more

Prime prison view. Atlantic Ocean, Cocos nucifera, Sea Grape, etc. from a dungeon at Castillo del Morro

"Cobito"

Sabal Causiarum? Old San Juan

[Trópico]

More!

Hotel El Convento

[Trópico]

Now one of the highlights of my trip...

Tourist pose, UPR Botanical Gardens

Now some eye candy. Sorry there were no labels on the plants. ID's are WELCOME.

Dypsis cabadae

[Trópico]

Robert, I tried to reduce the size of the pics but let me know if these are still too big...

Strange looking cacti

[Trópico]

Me in palm heaven!

[Trópico]

Excellent view. Assorted palms. Please feel free to ID...

See those seeds? I did too... multiple species are hatching in my backyard!   ID please!

[Trópico]

My lovely wife and this... this... AHH!!! /swoon...

More soon.............................

[Gileno Machado]

Great Pictures Frank...The environment looks very similar to my hometown...and I had to look twice: the hotel El Convento has an identical architecture as the Jesuit High School I attended here in Recife...

Btw, some of the sprouted seeds from PR that you sent are doing great, but the # 2 "maybe Licuala?" is actually something else, probably Pritchardia...The Prestoeas are great, thanks.

[BigFrond]

Awsome pictures.

[Kris]

Dear Tropico,

your pictures are fantastic_Man,

the lush green vegitation was very cooling to my eyes and the size of the photos were eyeful & picturisque.

beautiful pink flowering pulmeria not common to india,nolina_elephant foot plant is my favouriate,triangle palm that i love,lipstick palm size that i have never seen before,zamia cycas,lovely sabal palm was a feast to our eyes_superb pictures.

and now to what Gileno Machado said about the el convento hotel, i studied in a jesuit collage_Loyola(madras,S.India).

you want believe this tropico my collage looked and felt just like that hotel.and it brought back fond memories of my collage days_thank you.

[SubTropicRay]

very nice photos.

[Zac in NC]

In Post 4 with the cabadae, is that Mauritia or Mauritiella?

Good pics, Frank.

[MattyB]

the cactus thing in pic 2 looks like a Euphorbia.

[Howeadypsis]

I second the Euphorbia in post 5

Also in post 4, what is the purpose of those red bands around the palms behind you?

[Trópico]

Gileno and kris

Hotel El Convento used to be a Carmelite convent built more than three centuries ago. When my wife and me were hunting for hotels, she didn't like the idea of staying there but when we visited she definitely changed her mind.

G, #2 seeds, I doubt very much are Pritchardia, but the more I try to remember the more clueless I become. I did remember harvesting some Pritchardias but at Old San Juan, not at the botanical gardens. I will post more pics later of parent plants of some of the seedlings that you have. I'm sure we'll be able to ID as time passes... I have 3 of those with one leaf, one of them might not make it...

kris: Thanks for your kind comments! I wish you could have seen those sights in person, you know, pictures obviously do not do justice. Anyways, when are you going to grant us our wish of posting your own pictures of that glorious country of yours, specially for people like myself, who can only DREAM about visiting there?

Like you say, One Man, One Tree !

Zac, I have no idea    could it be Kerriodoxa elegans?

Howeadypsis: I didn't notice those, but that looks like a prime spot for a party/b-day banner. I ran into one in one of the cabins. Also, did I forget to mention that is an experimental garden for the university, lots of research going on there. Maybe tree tagging of some sort.

[Walt]

Great palm photos. Puerto Rico sure has the climate for so many wonderful palms.

I just wish I took the time to stop and smell the roses (so to speak) when I was in PR .

I was there twice while in the US Navy (late '60s) and twice as a civilian in the '80s. My full appreciation and interest in palms and tropicals didn't start until I moved to Florida in 1997.

If I ever return to PR again I plan to take 100s of palm and tropical photos.

Two things I will always remember fondly of PR.  It was there that I saw my first royal palms. I was really taken by their awesome looks (hence why royals are my favorite palm today). It was also there that I had my first shot of Barcardi 151 rum.

Bacardi Rum Factory (late 1960s):

by waltcat100

This was basically the first view of PR I saw from a port hole of my ship. I could hardly wait to get ashore and start sightseeing:

by waltcat100

[Kris]

Dear Walt  

Sir,

we are all glad to know that those pictures of tropico has also kindled your plesent past memories of Puerto Rico.

I always thought seeing your pictures in webshots gallery,which i visit daily.that your pictures had a style and were meticulusly shot.i used to visit daily and view those stills one after the other.

but now after knowing that you have served as U.S Marine.it is now clear how this perfection has come to you.

my due respects to you 'Sir'.

Saluting you in the Navy Way,

Kris Achar(S.India)

[Trópico]

Walt, not bad for a first view! That's Castillo San Felipe del Morro, one of the most important Spanish military bastions built in the year 1521.

More eye candy, let the dypsis lean!!!

We continued our trip through the gardens-campus

[Trópico]

Areca catechus ... I'm not worth it!! I'm not worth it!!! ...

Licualas at the base of the Arecas

[Trópico]

Areca catechu!!!

I'm too n00b to guess. Can you? Hint: No crownshaft (Aiphanes?, but spineless?)

[Trópico]

ID?

[Trópico]

Hydriastele? Please help!

[Trópico]

Pinus hondurensis

Caryota

[Trópico]

[Trópico]

My wife enduring the walk among the Triangles, spindles, etc.

Bird of paradise super clump

[Trópico]

Bamboo cave. Those clumps must be decades old. Sorry for the bad quality, but the light levels were low  

Heliconia

[Trópico]

Euterpe clump? please help

A few of our more familiar palmate friends

[Trópico]

A walk among the Ceibas.

My wife in "the awakening"

[Trópico]

That man you can barely see walking outside the door in his bathrobe sipping a cup of Yaucono coffee is me.

Really, these houses were in the BG/Campus of the University and don't know who lives or what the purpose but nice landscaping nonetheless (except for the out of place aluminum post   )

[Trópico]

As we headed back to the car we stopped to take a

closer look at some of the palms we saw on the way up.

My slightly educated guess is Pinanga coronata. More seed harvesting.

Nice Dypsis. If it's lutescens, what a variable species!

[Trópico]

A last look at the Lipstick super clump

[Trópico]

Two excellent Ceibas on the way to the western part of the island

Tunel Guajataca

[Trópico]

Roystonea borinquena in habitat, Rincon PR

My loot so far... (scale: approx 1/2 x)

[deezpalms]

Great shots Frank!! Post #22 is Dictyosperma album.

[SubTropicRay]

I love the Betelnut palms.

[Kris]

Tropico all your stills are fentastic,but the best

one that impresed me the most was the seeds

loot still_like all true plant lovers would do the

same !

we could buy any seeds but what is really close to

our heart is the ones we gather while on tours &

travells,etc..

i wish all those seeds sprout making those finds really

worth while.

Love,

Kris.

[Trópico]

Thanks for your replies! Ray, those A. catechus were absolutely stunning. I have two 3-leaf seedlings from the two seeds you see above.

Kris: I am pleased to let you know that most seeds did sprout and today some of my most prized palms come from that fistful of seeds you see on the picture. They are a growing souvenir of the trip.

And here we are, my lovely wife and I, at the portal at the El Yunque rainforest.

[Trópico]

The Mother of Thousands

[Trópico]

And now the Star of the show, in habitat, Prestoea acuminata var. montana.